Page 60 of The Fallen
It shatters at my feet, sending the pieces skitting across the ground, and I turn, hoping it’s just my imagination – my memory – playing a trick on me. Hoping that he won’t be standing behind me. But I’m not that lucky.
We stand in silence, a few meters apart.
Staring.
He’s changed. He doesn’t look like the same smart and put together man I first met. His dark hair used to be neat and swooped across the top of his forehead, and he wore black-rimmed glasses that reminded me of Harry Potter.
I blink, hardly able to keep the tense gaze going. His tawny eyes were once kind and welcoming. Not anymore. The man before me now is scruffy and unkempt. There’s nothing neat or tidy about him to see as I take in his ripped and mud-stained jeans and his baggy t-shirt. Even the chaos of his hair sticking out in all the wrong directions is unnerving, let alone seeing him with no glasses.
The kindness I remember disappeared soon after things didn’t go his way, though. I felt that in each of his threats, but it’s still a shock that every part of him was a lie. Did he think the glasses would make him look less threatening? More befitting for the Broderick sibling who hid behind computer screens and talked to her cat?
And then I see what he’s holding in his hand.
It twitches as if acknowledging my eyes landing on it, and I take an instinctual step back.
“What …” I start. I hate the tremble in my voice. I don’t want to be frightened of him, so I draw in a breath and force my mind to clear. “What are you doing, Lewis? You’ve made a stupid mistake coming here.”
He steps forward, and I counter, making sure to keep the few meters between us. Although, I doubt that will matter if he raises his arm. “Really? A mistake?” he seethes. “The only mistake I’ve made is thinking you’d do the right thing. After all, you’re just like the others.”
“No, I’m not. And I think you know that. I listened to you. I even believed in you.”
“Ha! You took pity on me, and you saw someone to be your friend.” He whines the last word, mocking me. “You’re just a pathetic girl with nobody. Why do you think I picked you, Neve? Ivy would never have believed what I told her. Even your precious Persephone wouldn’t. Only stupid you.” His scowl grows more menacing, but the gun is still at his side.
I have to hope that maybe Noah might be looking for me. Or Ivy, considering she was supposed to be watching me. They’ll come. They’ll find me. Until then, I have to keep Lewis calm and here. I won’t let him get away this time.
“Was this part of the plan?” I ask, hoping that his story about only wanting his share of the inheritance from the Brodericks is true.
“My plan? You ruined the plan,” he snaps, temper rising in his voice. “Your job was to convince your father.” Spittle flies from his mouth as if tainted with hate. “Your father wouldn’t even give it up with his own daughter’s life on the line. What does that say, Neve?”
“You were blackmailing him. Our family doesn’t respond well to threats.”
“My family. This is all mine!” he bellows, waving his hands around. “You don’t have a right to stand there and argue with me.”
He advances on me and raises his arm so quickly that I trip and stumble backwards. My back hits one of the supporting pillars, and I have nowhere else to go. I hold my breath as the muzzle of the gun presses into my cheek. The coolness of the metal is a shock, reminding me of the first time he did this, and I lower my eyes, not wanting to see the crazed look on his face anymore.
“You made me do all of this, Neve. I’ve lost everybody, and it was a lie. We were meant to be here, not scrabbling around to survive.” His voice grows more manic as if he's losing any control he had. “My grandfather told me stories about the parties and events. The great Tallington Hall, or Earlwood House. All the while, he was oblivious.”
“He … he was friends -”
“Oh, shut up. Friends. Friends with a family who stole from him.”
“We didn’t know. I promise.” The muzzle digs in harder to my cheek, and the pain in my jaw worsens, along with the fear taking over my body.
“Well, now you do. And still, nothing has changed. Perfect Daddy didn’t do what you told me he would, and now it’s your mess. This is allyourfault, Neve.”
“No.” I can’t listen to this. He would have pulled the trigger by now, right?
With my heart pounding against my chest, I turn and twist around the pillar that was keeping me still.
“Neve!” He raises the gun, and we play an odd peek-a-boo with the pillar in-between us as I duck one way or the other to avoid the gun pointing at me.
“You didn’t have to take it this far, Lewis. You didn’t have to shoot him,” I argue back.
“He didn’t listen, and so I had no choice,” he snarls as he reaches to grab my arm, yanking me back towards him. “And now, neither do you.” He shoves me back against the pillar and smothers my mouth with his hand. My own hands grip his to try and claw him off of me, but the gun slides up the side of my skull, chilling me and bringing fear to the surface again.
“I told you everything, Neve. How my family struggled, how my mum left because my dad never had enough. How it’s just been my grandfather and him. And it’s all gone now, and everyone’s dead. All gone because of fucking money!”
His breath is stale and putrid as he shouts in my face, and my breathing labours as I struggle to breathe through my nose. My heart rate quickens as he presses his hand firmer against my mouth. It’s suffocating.
